Kim & Nick SBP/Ariel's/Italy DP 5/09/11 UPDATES!

[Kimmers127]

Hi everyone!

I feel like I need to start this off like an AA meeting: My name is Kim, I'm planning a Disney wedding and I am not engaged.

Before you all start the collective eyeroll let me just say: it's not like that, I promise.

My boyfriend Nick and I have been together for about 3 years now, and in the course of that time we've purchased two condos (one of which we now rent out). We gutted and completely renovated both condos, and the last year or so since has been a lot of Attempting to Pay Off All That Debt, Oh My God. We've had a wedding date in mind for some time now but have been really focused on putting any available cash toward diminishing our debt. So no ring just yet, but because we want to plan this thing down to the last detail, we jumped in and started planning the wedding anyway. We only get to plan this thing once, might as well make the most of it! :rotfl:

Plus I thought it might be kind of cool for there to be a PJ out there where the actual proposal comes to you in real time. Stay tuned for that.

Here are the details we've worked out so far...

Wedding Date: (obviously tentative) 9/13/10. We'd really like for our friends and family to come down 2 days prior to the wedding so we can all hit the parks together. After the wedding, Nick and I plan to go our own separate way in true honeymoon fashion, so we want to make sure we can spend some time with our guests beforehand. With this in mind, I chose a Monday wedding date thinking it would minimize the number of days our guests need to take off from work. September is our favorite month to go to Disney because the crowds are low and it's still hot enough to hit the water parks, Nick's favorite Disney activity.

Ceremony Location: Sea Breeze Point. I loved the idea of an outdoor ceremony. The Yacht & Beach Club is my favorite Disney hotel and I love that we'll be able to see it as we're getting married. I think SBP is a really pretty spot. Love that it's on the water, love that it's covered so although we're outside, we're somewhat out of the sun.

Reception Location: probably Ariels. Initially I wanted The Attic, but Nick isn't a big fan and I'm not 100% sure it will be big enough anyway. When I found Ariel's it seemed perfect - at my favorite hotel, walking distance from the ceremony, vaguely under the sea themed elements. I love that it's so near to Stormalong Bay. And, it brings my guests many steps closer to...

Epcot Dessert Pary! I'm leaning towards a 10 am ceremony, 11 pre-reception, and 12 - 3 lunch buffet reception. This gives our guests a big enough chunk of downtime before the DP to go do something fun or relaxing during the hottest part of the day. They can hit the pool, take a nap or make a Downtown Disney run. Whatever they need to do to recharge for Illuminations!

After the DP we're thinking that for anyone who's not ready to call it a night, we can all head over to the Atlantic Dance Hall for a bit.

Colors: Some kind of blue, some kind of yellow, accents of bright pink. (I'm told I need to keep the pink to a BARE MINIMUM :lmao:)

Bridesmaids/Groomsmen: TBD

Dress: I refuse to try on a dress until I have my ring, but that doesn't mean I can't look online! Judging by the (many) that I currently love, I think it's safe to say that I want something big and very fairytale. What I think is pretty hysterical is that before I started looking my ONE criteria was that it not be strapless and EVERY dress that I currently have bookmarked on my computer is strapless. Figures!

More to follow...

[padisneyfour]

great start ... looking forward to hearing more.:goodvibes

[Ann117]

Hi welcome can not wait to hear more

[Kimmers127]

So right from the start of this whole planning process I told Nick that I was 100% set on a Mad Hatter cake with Mickey theming. Like some combination of these:

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e118/kimmersforlife/madhattermickeycakewithchecks.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e118/kimmersforlife/mickeymadhattercake.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e118/kimmersforlife/madhattercakeblueswirls.jpg

I looooove the swirled Mickey's on the blue cake. I love the tiny Mickey heads all over the pink and blue cake. And I love the cake topper from the other cake. Something about the Mad Hatter cakes really appeals to me... they're very whimsical, which is how a Disney wedding in general feels to me.

BUT THEN. Then I made the mistake of clicking through the gigantic cake thread on here... and now I'm torn. Part of me loves the Mad Hatters. Part of me loves the more traditional floral cakes with the white chocolate cake topper. And part of me likes the ocean themed cakes, with the shells and coral on them, like this one:

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e118/kimmersforlife/CoralAndShells-StandardDecoration.jpg

Especially as our reception is going to be at Ariel's... I'm thinking it might be cool to do an Under the Sea theme, sort of reminiscent of The Little Mermaid. We both love the beach, we'll be at the Yacht & Beach Club, and it's a theme we could easily do a little or a lot with. At the moment we don't have a theme, and I think that makes it tough for me to envision decor. I think having a theme will give my planning more direction.

What do you guys think??

[Bride-to-be]

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e118/kimmersforlife/CoralAndShells-StandardDecoration.jpg

Hope this helps. I don't know if this makes a difference but I went into properties and copied the web address from there.

Its a pretty cake!!!

[Bride-to-be]

How weird, if I click reply I can see all of the cakes under reply but they are all Xs on the main thread.... :confused3

[Bride-to-be]

Sorry I didn't realize you just edited them. They all look so pretty!!!

[Kimmers127]

Sorry I didn't realize you just edited them. They all look so pretty!!!

ha it took me forever and I'm still not 100% sure what I was doing wrong at first, but they're finally up!! Thanks for the help! :goodvibes

I feel like at some point I read somewhere that someone was thinking of doing a white chocolate cake topper made to look like a sandcastle... was that in your PJ? If I went with the shells & coral cake I was thinking that might make a really great cake topper. Then I get two of the things I wanted into one cake (sea theme, castle topper)!

[Kimmers127]

Does anyone know how much that shells and coral cake costs in 3 tiers? Also, how many people will that feed?

[tiggersam00]

Hey there Kim! I like that we will see a propsal in real time, how fun! Love your plans so far, we are staying at the YC for our Feb wedding, I have never stayed there before so it is great to hear a YC fan's prospective on here:thumbsup2. I noticed one small itty bitty snag in your plans (which sounds so amazing btw, do you know where you wnat a DP yet btw?) Atlantic Dance Hall would be a great spot for post wedding fun... excpet it is closed on Mondays... the only reason I know is becuase I am havong my reception on a Monday night at ADH because I loved it there lol! Besides that you are good to go girl! Have you called DFTW yet? Sorry I ask so many questions lol!

Have fun planning, can;t wait to hear more Kim!

[Kimmers127]

Hey there Kim! I like that we will see a propsal in real time, how fun! Love your plans so far, we are staying at the YC for our Feb wedding, I have never stayed there before so it is great to hear a YC fan's prospective on here:thumbsup2. I noticed one small itty bitty snag in your plans (which sounds so amazing btw, do you know where you wnat a DP yet btw?) Atlantic Dance Hall would be a great spot for post wedding fun... excpet it is closed on Mondays... the only reason I know is becuase I am havong my reception on a Monday night at ADH because I loved it there lol! Besides that you are good to go girl! Have you called DFTW yet? Sorry I ask so many questions lol!

Have fun planning, can;t wait to hear more Kim!

Oooooh, I did NOT realize that ADH was closed on Mondays, so thanks for that! In that case maybe we will need to consider moving our date to 9/14/10. I chose the Monday really only to limit everyone's time off from work, but what's one extra day? I do think that ADH would be a fun place to go post DP... especially because any guests who stay at BW or Y&B could just walk back to their rooms after!

I have called DFTW... I felt sort of foolish calling pre-proposal but Nick talked me into it. As he pointed out, the sooner we get some guidance and a rough budget going, the sooner we'll know how much to save and what areas we can go crazy on. My wedding consultant is Joe, who sent me a mock budget for 60 guests (we're assuming we'll get between 30 and 60 so we wanted a worst case scenario). It's super rough because he just input basic floral and generic menus, but it does give us some idea. He did use my ceremony and reception choices and times, and included a DP. The first estimate was $25,000. :scared1: We'd like to be closer to $15,000 (and hey, $12,000 would be great too!!) but we also think we'll be a lot closer to 30 guests than 60 so that may not be too unrealistic. I can also already see some things I think we can cut from that budget. For comparison's sake I emailed him a few days ago asking for the same estimate based on 30 guests... we tried to do the math ourselves but I think the first budget may have had a few small errors because the math just does not work out (even taking tax and service into consideration).

I have NO idea where I want the DP... I'm not really sure what the pros and cons are of each location. I'm pretty much clueless about the DPs in general, I just love the idea.

And I LOVE the Yacht & Beach Club, it's easily my favorite hotel. The pool is amazing, the hotel and grounds are beautiful, and I love being right on the boardwalk and walking distance to Epcot. At night the do projection movies out on the beach which is really nice. Can't say enough wonderful things about this hotel! You will love it. :goodvibes

Thanks for stopping by!

[aftensgirl]

Cant wait to hear more! :goodvibes

[tiggersam00]

Oooooh, I did NOT realize that ADH was closed on Mondays, so thanks for that! In that case maybe we will need to consider moving our date to 9/14/10. I chose the Monday really only to limit everyone's time off from work, but what's one extra day? I do think that ADH would be a fun place to go post DP... especially because any guests who stay at BW or Y&B could just walk back to their rooms after!

I have called DFTW... I felt sort of foolish calling pre-proposal but Nick talked me into it. As he pointed out, the sooner we get some guidance and a rough budget going, the sooner we'll know how much to save and what areas we can go crazy on. My wedding consultant is Joe, who sent me a mock budget for 60 guests (we're assuming we'll get between 30 and 60 so we wanted a worst case scenario). It's super rough because he just input basic floral and generic menus, but it does give us some idea. He did use my ceremony and reception choices and times, and included a DP. The first estimate was $25,000. :scared1: We'd like to be closer to $15,000 (and hey, $12,000 would be great too!!) but we also think we'll be a lot closer to 30 guests than 60 so that may not be too unrealistic. I can also already see some things I think we can cut from that budget. For comparison's sake I emailed him a few days ago asking for the same estimate based on 30 guests... we tried to do the math ourselves but I think the first budget may have had a few small errors because the math just does not work out (even taking tax and service into consideration).

I have NO idea where I want the DP... I'm not really sure what the pros and cons are of each location. I'm pretty much clueless about the DPs in general, I just love the idea.

And I LOVE the Yacht & Beach Club, it's easily my favorite hotel. The pool is amazing, the hotel and grounds are beautiful, and I love being right on the boardwalk and walking distance to Epcot. At night the do projection movies out on the beach which is really nice. Can't say enough wonderful things about this hotel! You will love it. :goodvibes

Thanks for stopping by!

Well I am glad your DF convinced you to call. Although the estimates they give you at first from what I have learned here are almost always a bit on the high side. I think you can get to you 15K goal with a few tricks we use on here without any trouble! Check out LurkyLoo's PJ (Carrie) she is the queen of keeping the BEO low, and her book is a great tool for a DisBride, it has all sorts of ost saving techniques and stuff (and for only about $7 you can't beat it right!) Maybe that will help you guys too while figuring out your budget. It is the PassPorter's DFTW Guide (it's available for download on the passporter website)

The Y&BC area is so nice, this was our 1st time seeing it on our last trip and we both kjnew we made the right choice! It is so pretty over there, and very relaxing too!

About a Tuesday, most of our guests are staying a few days, so I think one more is fine! Plus who doesn't love more time in WDW right!

[ghoulish delight]

Hi Kim, and welcome! :hug:

Sounds like you've got quite a bit figured out so far! Those cakes you posted were TOO cute! I loved the first two especially. I'm partial to the mad hatter cakes myself. :goodvibes

I'm very excited to hear more from you! And you're right! It will be very cool to see a real time engagement!

[Rebclay]

Your wedding will be exactly a week after mine. That's exciting!! I know how it feels to have started planning the wedding without the ring. We had a date and everything picked out about 2 months before my DF actually proposed. I can't wait to hear how your DBF proposes. Keep us updated.

[Pirate's Princess]

Wow, you are so on top of the ball!! We too started planning before the ring but I didn't officially start the PJ until afterwards. Those cakes look lovely!! Everyone sounds so nice. I'm sure you'll find ways to reduce to $$

[Ann117]

Everything looks great so far! I am having 30 people at my wedding and I am at the 12,000 mark so it can be done. One thing that can really help is to do your own centerpieces some of the Disney ones are really expensive. You just have to decide whats the most important things to you.

[MainStMandy]

Just coming to join in on the fun!

Df and I had decided on a DFTW before the ring too...:rotfl: Can't wait to see everything unfold!

[AaronsDisneygrl]

Hi! DBF and I are planning already too so I'm glad to see we aren't the only ones!
For the sand castle cake topper...I remember seeing a picture of that somewhere too, but I can't remember where and I can't find it in my saved pics.
I was reading the PassPorter's guide that lurkyloo wrote and under the cakes it says that Disney offers a chocolate sand castle cake topper for $165 for the small and $285 for the large. The prices may change but at least you know they have something along the lines you're looking for and a rough price estimate!
Hope that helps and I look forward to reading more :goodvibes

[pink_tink8i8]

I love your cake ideas! :goodvibes I'm a huge fan of the mad hatters also

[Kimmers127]

Everything looks great so far! I am having 30 people at my wedding and I am at the 12,000 mark so it can be done. One thing that can really help is to do your own centerpieces some of the Disney ones are really expensive. You just have to decide whats the most important things to you.

That reassures me that it can be done after all!! I'd really like to stick to the minimum if at all possible. I'm thinking our centerpieces may not be too bad because Nick seems to have it in his head that each table HAS to have 10 people... so we may only end up needing 3 centerpieces! :rotfl:

Wow, you are so on top of the ball!! We too started planning before the ring but I didn't officially start the PJ until afterwards. Those cakes look lovely!! Everyone sounds so nice. I'm sure you'll find ways to reduce to $$

Thanks!! I hesitated on starting the PJ but then I thought, I only get to do this once, why not start the fun right away? I mean we do have a date set, and Nick is in on all of the planning, it's not like I'm secretly organizing a wedding behind his back haha. I think he likes that I'm so into the dis boards because it means he doesn't (always) have to hear every little idea that pops into my head for the wedding!

Just coming to join in on the fun!

Df and I had decided on a DFTW before the ring too...:rotfl: Can't wait to see everything unfold!

Thanks! I love all your plans too. You and your MOH are so cute. I love that she's so involved. :thumbsup2

Hi! DBF and I are planning already too so I'm glad to see we aren't the only ones!
For the sand castle cake topper...I remember seeing a picture of that somewhere too, but I can't remember where and I can't find it in my saved pics.
I was reading the PassPorter's guide that lurkyloo wrote and under the cakes it says that Disney offers a chocolate sand castle cake topper for $165 for the small and $285 for the large. The prices may change but at least you know they have something along the lines you're looking for and a rough price estimate!
Hope that helps and I look forward to reading more :goodvibes

Oh thanks... I KNEW I saw that somewhere! I think the under the sea theme is adorable and so perfect for Ariel's, but Nick isn't crazy about the cake I saw. He loves the Mad Hatters so we'll probably be sticking with that. Got to let him have his way occasionally. ;)

I love your cake ideas! :goodvibes I'm a huge fan of the mad hatters also

I do love them... they were my first choice until I got sidetracked by the under the sea idea. I've saved pics of all the ones I like so we can sort of customize ours. I think they're very "Disney" somehow.

[Kimmers127]

Not too much to update at this point... right now I'm mostly just reading everyone's Planning Journals and looking online for inspiration. Every time I see something I like, I save the picture. (So if you see something here that looks familiar... thanks!! haha.) Once I get my printer hooked up I'll probably print a bunch of them so I can put them in my wedding planning binder. At the moment I've got some things saved on my work computer and some on mu laptop, and I'd like to get it all organized in one place.

Today I was searching on ebay for Disney figures and I think I found my cake topper!

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e118/kimmersforlife/teacupcaketopper.jpg

I like this for a few reasons. First, it's Mickey and Minnie which is iconic, and won't clash with whatever theme we end up deciding on. Second, it's the teacups which I've always loved (even though no one will ever go on them with me anymore!!). And, we're having a Mad Hatter cake! So it fits, all around. I think it's perfect. Nick isn't 100% sold but he likes it, and that's good enough for me because I love it. I think he's just not totally on board with the idea of a cake topper. But he'll come around! :laughing:

A few other pictures currently inspiring me...

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e118/kimmersforlife/blueandyellowflowers.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e118/kimmersforlife/blueandcreamcps.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e118/kimmersforlife/bluehydrangeaswithpinkroses.jpg

I've decided I really, really like the look of blue hydrangeas. I'm thinking maybe my bouquet could be blue hydrangeas with yellow and off white roses. I also really like those little white flowers that look like stars (can't think of the name but they always have pearls or crystals at the center). I'm kind of tempted to throw in a few of the really bright pink roses too, but I'm not sure if that would be one color too many? I could leave the yellow out I suppose, and just do the blue hydrangeas with off white and pink roses and those little star flowers. Maybe I could use the yellow in the bridesmaids bouquets? Decisions, decisions.

More to come soon...

[HeatherNJNC]

I just caught up on your PJ! Wow you are so ahead of the game!!! Oh and I think the flowers you were thinking of are stephanotis! I'm using them in my floral, love them!

[kcampbell]

Kim, It's all good. I met w/ my Disney Coordinator the first time almost 6 mos. before we were technically engaged (LONG story!), but I will always come up to MK to ride the teacups w/ ya (and love Lenox, esp. thanks to my hubby b/c of our engagement), love that you love hydrangeas (they are just beautiful flowers!) and you evidently love the color of the roses that were in my bouquet! Good ole pinky-pink!

The flowers you are referring to are indeed stephanotis. The only problem with hydrangea is how large they are, but if you tell whatever Disney florist you get assigned what you envision (Blue Hydrangea, pink roses, and white stephanotis) I'm sure the team'll come up with something FAB! :cutie:

[pink_tink8i8]

I love the blue hydrangeas. Those would be a beautiful choice and your cake topper is so cute!:goodvibes

[polynesianbride]

Just read through you PJ and wanted to say Congrats and welcome! I basically love all the same cakes you do but am an Escape bride and don't know if I'll upgrade yet or not:confused3 I see you've decided on your cake topper but I have a pic of the sand castle topper I think you were referring to earlier... so here it is for anyone else's reference
http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr68/ayount2/sandcastle.jpg
Your first entry of the PJ says your tentative date is 09/13/09 and I thought WOW that girl better start planning even though there's no ring- but now as I read on I'm pretty sure it's 2010:lmao: I started to panic for you for a minute though:scared1: Can't wait to follow along with all your plans!

[Kimmers127]

I just caught up on your PJ! Wow you are so ahead of the game!!! Oh and I think the flowers you were thinking of are stephanotis! I'm using them in my floral, love them!

YES that's them... thanks! I think they're so pretty... like little stars.

Kim, It's all good. I met w/ my Disney Coordinator the first time almost 6 mos. before we were technically engaged (LONG story!), but I will always come up to MK to ride the teacups w/ ya (and love Lenox, esp. thanks to my hubby b/c of our engagement), love that you love hydrangeas (they are just beautiful flowers!) and you evidently love the color of the roses that were in my bouquet! Good ole pinky-pink!

The flowers you are referring to are indeed stephanotis. The only problem with hydrangea is how large they are, but if you tell whatever Disney florist you get assigned what you envision (Blue Hydrangea, pink roses, and white stephanotis) I'm sure the team'll come up with something FAB! :cutie:

Thanks for that, that actually makes me feel a lot better! Part of me feels sort of silly doing this before the ring, but really with a destination wedding it's never too soon to start, right? Ha, I'm totally gonna hold you to the teacups, I haven't ridden those in YEARS because my parents and my bf all refuse to brave the constant spinning! :rotfl:

I really love the Lenox Disney stuff, I've seen some really nice pieces. I have the Lenox Christmas ornament like this cake topper, so it's got a nice sentimentality all around. The hydrangeas are the kind of blue that I want to pull into my color scheme... it's so pretty! And I think the bright pink roses will really pop against that shade. I figure I'll just bring tons of pics to the Disney florist and let them work their magic! :wizard:

I love the blue hydrangeas. Those would be a beautiful choice and your cake topper is so cute!:goodvibes

Thanks! I love them. :goodvibes

Just read through you PJ and wanted to say Congrats and welcome! I basically love all the same cakes you do but am an Escape bride and don't know if I'll upgrade yet or not:confused3 I see you've decided on your cake topper but I have a pic of the sand castle topper I think you were referring to earlier... so here it is for anyone else's reference
http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr68/ayount2/sandcastle.jpg
Your first entry of the PJ says your tentative date is 09/13/09 and I thought WOW that girl better start planning even though there's no ring- but now as I read on I'm pretty sure it's 2010:lmao: I started to panic for you for a minute though:scared1: Can't wait to follow along with all your plans!

Thanks for noticing my slip with the date - oops! I would be a nervous wreck trying to pull together a Disney wedding that fast! And thanks for the sandcastle pic - I still do really like that concept! Maybe for something else down the road... :rotfl::rotfl:

[princess22]

Just wanted to come and say hi and congrats on starting to plan. Can't wait to hear about the proposal when it happens! =)

I love all the cakes you have posted. and your cake topper is adorable. The flowers are gorgeous also! YOu are off to a great start! can't wait to read more

[Kimmers127]

Just wanted to come and say hi and congrats on starting to plan. Can't wait to hear about the proposal when it happens! =)

I love all the cakes you have posted. and your cake topper is adorable. The flowers are gorgeous also! YOu are off to a great start! can't wait to read more

Thank you! :goodvibes

[Kimmers127]

Hi everyone! As you can see, it's been quite a while since my last update. In the months that I've been gone, a lot has happened: I lost my job, Nick and I got engaged in Disney, I decided to go back to school for my Masters in Education, I got a new job as an SAT tutor, and we started talking about possibly moving down to FL when I finish school. With all of that going on, Disney started to kind of take a backseat. We thought maybe given my work situation and my planning to (hopefully!) start school in June, we should scrap the Disney wedding and do something inexpensive locally instead. That was soon after we got engaged, which was this past September.

Fast forward to last month... we had not spent ONE MINUTE on wedding planning since we decided to pass on Disney. Meanwhile my grandparents had generously gifted a Disney trip to Nick and I for this past January, and we were both over the moon excited planning for it. We went on the trip and had a fantastic time, as usual. We took the Epcot Segway tour and really, really enjoyed it. On the tour we both commented on how beautiful several of the countries in the World Showcase really were. Nick made a joke that if we got married there we could tell people that we "got married in Italy". Over the course of the trip, we both made little comments about nice aspects of the Disney weddings.

When we got home, we talked about the wedding and I admitted that I was having a hard time getting excited about doing something locally. All along, Disney just felt right to me. It's something we both love and something we would love to share with our friends and family. Also, I'm not a center of attention kind of girl. I'm not comfortable being in the spotlight in front of a big group. If we did the wedding locally there were a LOT of people that we would have to invite, and I really wanted a more intimate wedding. Nick told me that he'd been thinking that maybe he wanted a smaller wedding too, and suggested that we rethink our decision to scrap the Disney wedding. I'd since gotten the tutoring job, which I planned to keep while in school, so our financial situation wasn't what we had feared it might be.

So...

DISNEY IS BACK ON!!!!!!!! :cool1:

We've had to move forward to May 2011 because if I get into school (cross your fingers, I should know any day now!!) it runs from this June to next May. It's an accelerated program that offers a Masters + teaching certification in one calendar year, so there are no breaks at all during the year. I would graduate sometime next May and we would have the wedding right after.

We're currently trying to decide if it makes more sense for us to have an Escape or Wishes wedding. Our ideal guest list is about 45 - 50 people. If we did an Escape, we'd have to split a bunch of couples up, which I hate. But, we'd still invite everyone to the dinner and Dessert Party afterward.

We're planning to have a 10 am or 12 pm ceremony on a Monday, so the Wishes minimum would only be $10,000! Given that fact, and our plans for a dinner and a Dessert Party, my WC Joe thinks we are probably better off with a Wishes wedding. He's going to work up a few estimates for me to look over. In the meantime I am back to scouring PJs for ideas and inspiration!

So, so glad to be back! :goodvibes

[Kimmers127]

Well, unfortunately I have just heard back from school and I did not get in.

I'm disappointed, but oh well... I will apply again next year and this time I will branch out and apply to other schools as well. In the meantime, being able to focus on tutoring for this next year will certainly help us put money aside for the wedding, so that's a good thing!

Looks like we can now choose whatever date we want for the wedding!! :rotfl:

(I just love how IMMEDIATELY after I post about school, I find out that I did not get in - how awkward lol.)

As of this moment we are considering our wedding date to be 5/09/11. We'll see if we are able to get it! I'm curious what past May brides have thought of the weather? I have been to Disney occasionally in March, July, and August, and many times in September, January and February, but never in May. DF LOVES going to the Disney water parks so we want to make sure we choose a time period that is likely to be hot... that being said we are considering an outside lunch reception in Italy so July/August are out!!

The colors we are thinking of using (likely some combination of blue/yellow/bright pink) are very bright and summery so I think May is a good fit as far as that goes.

I would also like a Monday ceremony so that friends/family who want to minimize time off from work can do so... we will plan to spend Saturday and Sunday to spend at the parks with friends and family who fly down early.

[MainStMandy]

Well, unfortunately I have just heard back from school and I did not get in.

I'm disappointed, but oh well... I will apply again next year and this time I will branch out and apply to other schools as well. In the meantime, being able to focus on tutoring for this next year will certainly help us put money aside for the wedding, so that's a good thing!

Looks like we can now choose whatever date we want for the wedding!! :rotfl:

(I just love how IMMEDIATELY after I post about school, I find out that I did not get in - how awkward lol.)

As of this moment we are considering our wedding date to be 5/09/11. We'll see if we are able to get it! I'm curious what past May brides have thought of the weather? I have been to Disney occasionally in March, July, and August, and many times in September, January and February, but never in May. DF LOVES going to the Disney water parks so we want to make sure we choose a time period that is likely to be hot... that being said we are considering an outside lunch reception in Italy so July/August are out!!

The colors we are thinking of using (likely some combination of blue/yellow/bright pink) are very bright and summery so I think May is a good fit as far as that goes.

I would also like a Monday ceremony so that friends/family who want to minimize time off from work can do so... we will plan to spend Saturday and Sunday to spend at the parks with friends and family who fly down early.


Oh I'm so sorry to hear about school! But I love the positive attitude you have!

I haven't been in May but I've heard it's a great time to go! Great weather and if you time it right...no crowds! We went the first week of June last year and it was wonderful!!

[Pirate's Princess]

Welcome back Kim! Sorry to read about the job loss, and school, but it's excellent that you're staying positive. And hooray for the Disney wedding being back on!! Your colors seem very fitting for May. I've never been but I can't imagine it being too hot (fingers crossed). I can't wait to read more.

And congrats on the "official" engagement!

[TinkLoverSam]

I've been right at the end of April and the weather was beautiful, we did a water park but it wasn't so hot you couldn't sit outside for lunch. And the evenings cool off beautifully as well making it easier to sleep!

[Kimmers127]

Oh I'm so sorry to hear about school! But I love the positive attitude you have!

I haven't been in May but I've heard it's a great time to go! Great weather and if you time it right...no crowds! We went the first week of June last year and it was wonderful!!

Thank you! I really believe that everything happens for a reason - it will all work out for the best.

Hopefully 5/09/11 is considered good timing... DF is NOT good with huge crowds/lines!

Welcome back Kim! Sorry to read about the job loss, and school, but it's excellent that you're staying positive. And hooray for the Disney wedding being back on!! Your colors seem very fitting for May. I've never been but I can't imagine it being too hot (fingers crossed). I can't wait to read more.

And congrats on the "official" engagement!

Thank you!! The engagement was wonderful and we are both so psyched to be back into the Disney planning!

Honestly the job loss was a blessing in disguise. I was miserable there and now I've been able to really think about what I want to do, you know? Right now I'm working as an SAT tutor and I'm really happy about it.

I've been right at the end of Arpil and the weather was beautiful, we did a water park but it wasn't so hot you couldn't sit outside for lunch. And the evenings cool off beautifully as well making it easier to sleep!

Excellent! I love the hot weather - one of our favorite things to do is to hit the water parks - but I think May will be hot enough for that to be enjoyable, without the oppressive humidity of July or August. That's what I'm hoping anyway!!

[Kimmers127]

This is pretty random but does anyone know how to change the title of my PJ? It's bugging me that it still has my old date!

[MainStMandy]

Go baco the first post. You should have an edit button. Once that pops up, click the Advanced option and you should be able to change the title.

[Kimmers127]

Go baco the first post. You should have an edit button. Once that pops up, click the Advanced option and you should be able to change the title.

Oh my gosh, THANK YOU!!! That has been bugging me so much, you have no idea!

I just realized your wedding is thisclose now! You must be so excited - I would probably be packing already! :rotfl: I really hope it turns out perfectly for you... I know you have put a ton of planning in. I'm thinking warm thoughts for you! I can't wait to see the pictures after the wedding!

Congratulations on the house as well... we are so anxious to buy a house (we own two condos right now) but we have decided to wait until the wedding is finished and paid for. We want to relocate to the Orlando area so we're thinking for a major move like that we'll want to have some cash saved up! I also need to get school sorted out. I think realistically we will move in two years... which seems far away but by the time the wedding gets here it really won't be!

[MainStMandy]

Oh my gosh, THANK YOU!!! That has been bugging me so much, you have no idea!

I just realized your wedding is thisclose now! You must be so excited - I would probably be packing already! :rotfl: I really hope it turns out perfectly for you... I know you have put a ton of planning in. I'm thinking warm thoughts for you! I can't wait to see the pictures after the wedding!

Congratulations on the house as well... we are so anxious to buy a house (we own two condos right now) but we have decided to wait until the wedding is finished and paid for. We want to relocate to the Orlando area so we're thinking for a major move like that we'll want to have some cash saved up! I also need to get school sorted out. I think realistically we will move in two years... which seems far away but by the time the wedding gets here it really won't be!

You are welcome!! It drove me crazy at first too!!

We are getting close...and I haven't packed yet!!! This weekend though, I swear! Thanks on the house too!!

I am a tiny bit jealous that you plan to move to Orlando! I miss it there and would love to move back!! Good luck with everything!:hug:

[pink_tink8i8]

sorry to hear about school :hug:

[Kimmers127]

sorry to hear about school :hug:

Thank you! I appreciate that.

[Kimmers127]

Well, obviously our date won't be confirmed by Disney for a while, but I would really like to send out Save the Dates soon anyway, to give our guests as much time as possible to plan and save. If we don't get the date we are hoping for, it will still be close to it.

I've been giving the Save the Dates a lot of thought, and originally I really wanted to somehow use the photo of our engagement (Nick proposed to me on my favorite ride in Disney:lovestruc, so there's a ride photo of the event) but then I came across these and fell in love:

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e118/kimmersforlife/Disney%20Sept%202009/savethedatecards.jpg

ZipADeeEm pointed me here for the how - to of it:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1868496&page=5

so now I am on a mission to make these happen! They're just way, waaaay too cool to pass up, and I know our guests will get a kick out of them!

If I do decide I still want to put some of the pics of our engagement to use, I can always add a magnet to the back of the room key, and place that on a larger photo collage or something. And if not then I will work out a way to display the engagement pics at our reception, because I LOVE that he proposed to me in Disney AND knew me well enough to know that I'd want a picture to capture the moment!

So! Now my dilemma is... how in the heck do I get a bunch of blank room keys??? Unfortunately we JUST went to Disney last month (before I thought of this - figures!) so I really don't think we will be back before the wedding.

This is probably a lot to ask but... if anyone is local or planning a trip to WDW soon and would consider picking up a bunch of these for me, I would be forever grateful!! If not I will plan to call a bunch of the resorts and start begging, but I've heard that while Disney will pass these out in person, they won't mail them.

If anyone is willing please let me know and I will get a final count as to how many I need! You will put a huge smile on my face!

[*Pixiedust1438*]

Hi Kim! I just read through your PJ. That's great you decided on a Disney Wedding. It is going to be a lot for us to afford as well, but honestly I would not be happy doing it anywhere else, and there are ways to keep costs reasonable. I am so sorry to hear about your school, that sounds like a great program. I am an Early Childhood/Childhood Education major, but am still in undergrad school. I will graduate next May with my Bachelor's. I am sorry to hear you lost your job, but I'm sure you will love teaching!

I posted on your thread about the invites, but I will add it here as well. I am going down in December and would be happy to pick them up for you, but that might be too late??? We are also getting married in May 2011 and I'm sending our STD out as soon as our date is confirmed. If it's not too late let me know.

[Kimmers127]

Hi Kim! I just read through your PJ. That's great you decided on a Disney Wedding. It is going to be a lot for us to afford as well, but honestly I would not be happy doing it anywhere else, and there are ways to keep costs reasonable. I am so sorry to hear about your school, that sounds like a great program. I am an Early Childhood/Childhood Education major, but am still in undergrad school. I will graduate next May with my Bachelor's. I am sorry to hear you lost your job, but I'm sure you will love teaching!

I posted on your thread about the invites, but I will add it here as well. I am going down in December and would be happy to pick them up for you, but that might be too late??? We are also getting married in May 2011 and I'm sending our STD out as soon as our date is confirmed. If it's not too late let me know.

Thank you so much for offering to help but you're right, I'm planning to send them out fairly soon, just so everyone has plenty of notice. I think we will send them out at the year mark at the latest - because really, even if we don't get the exact date we want, I'm sure we'll be close to it.

I am disappointed about school, but I'm confident that it will all work out for the best. I lost my job pretty unexpectedly so I didn't have much time to research different schools... now I do, and maybe I'll find one that's a better fit for me anyway.

I know what you mean about the Disney wedding. I would rather stick to a tight budget in order to save up and have the wedding we really want than to try to be happy with something we don't really want. It'll be a stretch but it's a once in a lifetime event, you know? And like you said, there are ways to stay on budget. We have plenty of time to plan!!

[Kimmers127]

You are welcome!! It drove me crazy at first too!!

We are getting close...and I haven't packed yet!!! This weekend though, I swear! Thanks on the house too!!

I am a tiny bit jealous that you plan to move to Orlando! I miss it there and would love to move back!! Good luck with everything!:hug:

I'm glad to hear someone who actually lived there say that they love it... :thumbsup2 we have a lot of reasons for wanting to go (it's not JUST about Disney lol) but really, Disney/Universal are the only areas we are familiar with. But we have wanted to move to FL for a while (good-bye cold weather!!!) so we just figured, as long as we're doing that why not be close to Disney? I also figured being in/just outside of Orlando will mean we're super close to tons of other fun stuff to do too. AND you seriously cannot beat the property prices! Here in CT prices are sky high, it's crazy.

[HeatherNJNC]

Congratulations on your engagement! We were getting married the day you got engaged so that date is VERY special to me! Can't wait to hear more about your planning!

[erin.w]

Hello from a fellow CT'er planning on a 2011 wedding, although we are planning for April of 2011.

We are currently trying to decide between having the whole day in Epcot but foregoing our outside photographer/a character, or having the ceremony/reception outside of the park and the dessert party in Epcot. I know you have switched back and forth, so what were your reasons? Just curious!!

You'll have to keep my planning timeline for me!

Looking forward to reading more. :)

[Kimmers127]

Congratulations on your engagement! We were getting married the day you got engaged so that date is VERY special to me! Can't wait to hear more about your planning!

I just wrote on your PJ/TR, but seriously, HOW COOL IS THAT?! You were even getting married in the same locations I'm hoping to use!

Hello from a fellow CT'er planning on a 2011 wedding, although we are planning for April of 2011.

We are currently trying to decide between having the whole day in Epcot but foregoing our outside photographer/a character, or having the ceremony/reception outside of the park and the dessert party in Epcot. I know you have switched back and forth, so what were your reasons? Just curious!!

You'll have to keep my planning timeline for me!

Looking forward to reading more. :)

Hi to a fellow CT bride! Your wedding is right before mine, so we can follow along with each other, and once you fly out for yours I can take that as my cue to enter into Total Panicked Freakout Mode! :rotfl:

It's a tough call on locations with the no outside photographer rule. My first choice has always been Sea Breeze Point and Ariel's with a Dessert Party in Epcot (Italy). Nick has recently expressed an interest in having our ceremony in Epcot (Italy) and an outdoor reception in Italy as well (plus the Dessert Party). I agree that this would be beautiful, but.... I really want outside photography. I can deal with Disney pics for the Dessert Party, but the photography is HUGE on my priority list, and I just don't know that I'm comfortable rolling the dice on it, you know? It seems like when it comes to Disney photography, some people are thrilled and some are anything but... and it's not like it's a bargain price to justify the risk!

Completely unrelated to the photography, I like Sea Breeze Point for the scenic background of the boardwalk and the water. I like that although it's open-air, its covered to keep the sun off in case it's ridiculously hot (which it could be in May). The Yacht & Beach Club is our favorite hotel, so I like the sentimentality of having the reception there. I really like the interior of Ariel's... before we settled on a Disney wedding Nick wanted a subtle "beach" theme for our wedding, and if we used Ariel's we could work that back in. Ariel's is air conditioned, which could also be a blessing for a lunch reception in May. And we can get some great shots around the hotel and pool!

(At this point you are probably realizing that I am the queen of overthinking... I like to examine all angles! :lmao:)

We are still discussing it but currently I am lobbying hard for Sea Breeze Point ceremony, reception at Ariel's and photography by David & Vicki Arndt.

Do you have a PJ yet? I'd love to follow along since we're so close!

[Kimmers127]

After doing some research, we have decided on our locations and have booked a photographer! I know we're still early, but the photgraphy is an important element of the wedding for me and I wanted to make sure we got that booked early to secure it.

We went with Vicki & David Arndt and I am so excited about that. :cool1: I think they are wonderful photographers and I was shocked to discover that they are in my budget! I have emailed several times with Vicki and she just seems like the nicest person. She also seems super efficient and organized, and I know that will mean a lot to me both throughout this process and when our wedding day is finally here.

As for locations, we decided on Sea Breeze Point for the ceremony, an afternoon reception at Ariels, and a DP in Epcot, hopefully in Italy. In the end, it came down to a lot of factors. I really love both of the wedding locations and their proximity to the Yacht & Beach Club, which is our favorite hotel. I like that once our guests get to Sea Breeze Point, they can walk everywhere they need to go. I'm happy that we have an indoor reception because I would hate to be rained out and moved somewhere potentially awful. I'm also thinking in May it could be pretty hot and we might be glad for an air conditioned reception spot. And finally, I just really wanted David and Vicki to photograph the day!

I'm so excited - having some of these things finalized is making it all feel very real all of a sudden! It's crazy to think that in just a few months we will be sending out our save the dates!

[pink_tink8i8]

congrats on getting a photographer and your sites!!!!! so exciting
! SBP is so beautiful!

[SuzeQ]

Congratulations on your engagement and all your plans.
I love your locations and your photographers!:thumbsup2
I enjoyed reading your PJ. You've had your share of ups and downs just like a real fairy tale. I'm looking forward to reading more.

Suze

[Kimmers127]

congrats on getting a photographer and your sites!!!!! so exciting
! SBP is so beautiful!

Thank you!! :goodvibes

Congratulations on your engagement and all your plans.
I love your locations and your photographers!:thumbsup2
I enjoyed reading your PJ. You've had your share of ups and downs just like a real fairy tale. I'm looking forward to reading more.

Suze

Thanks for coming by to read! This comment made me go awwww, lol. :flower3:

[*Pixiedust1438*]

After doing some research, we have decided on our locations and have booked a photographer! I know we're still early, but the photgraphy is an important element of the wedding for me and I wanted to make sure we got that booked early to secure it.

We went with Vicki & David Arndt and I am so excited about that. :cool1: I think they are wonderful photographers and I was shocked to discover that they are in my budget! I have emailed several times with Vicki and she just seems like the nicest person. She also seems super efficient and organized, and I know that will mean a lot to me both throughout this process and when our wedding day is finally here.

As for locations, we decided on Sea Breeze Point for the ceremony, an afternoon reception at Ariels, and a DP in Epcot, hopefully in Italy. In the end, it came down to a lot of factors. I really love both of the wedding locations and their proximity to the Yacht & Beach Club, which is our favorite hotel. I like that once our guests get to Sea Breeze Point, they can walk everywhere they need to go. I'm happy that we have an indoor reception because I would hate to be rained out and moved somewhere potentially awful. I'm also thinking in May it could be pretty hot and we might be glad for an air conditioned reception spot. And finally, I just really wanted David and Vicki to photograph the day!

I'm so excited - having some of these things finalized is making it all feel very real all of a sudden! It's crazy to think that in just a few months we will be sending out our save the dates!

Yay for choosing your locations and photography! It all sounds wonderful! Can't wait to hear more! Are you doing a PS?

[MsEsty]

I just booked the Arndt's as well...looking forward to your pics, especially since we're both using the SBP :)

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Hey, I just saw your title. I'm having my reception at Ariel's on April 19th, and I thought they were closing for good like September of this yr. I saw you've talked to Disney, so maybe that's changed. I just wanted to give you the heads up in case whoever you talked to didn't know that and it hasn't. :\

[Kimmers127]

Yay for choosing your locations and photography! It all sounds wonderful! Can't wait to hear more! Are you doing a PS?

Hi! I actually JUST booked my planning session for October 1st. Nick and I are both ridiculously excited. We originally didn't think we would have the money to go down to FL for a planning session, but now that we've booked one and are already counting down the days, it's becoming increasingly clear that we never would have made it all the way to the wedding without a Disney fix!! :rotfl:

I just booked the Arndt's as well...looking forward to your pics, especially since we're both using the SBP :)

What is your date? I'm really, really excited about using David & Vicki. They are both just so genuine and easy to talk to. I can't wait to meet them in October when I go for my engagement pictures!

Hey, I just saw your title. I'm having my reception at Ariel's on April 19th, and I thought they were closing for good like September of this yr. I saw you've talked to Disney, so maybe that's changed. I just wanted to give you the heads up in case whoever you talked to didn't know that and it hasn't. :\

Hi! Thanks for stopping by... I did speak to my coordinator and he confirmed that Disney recently communicated to the wedding department that Ariel's will be available at least through May of 2011. Apparently it keeps being scheduled for renovations but the start date keeps getting pushed back. Lucky for me because I was really disappointed when we pushed our date back as I assumed that meant giving up Ariel's. I will definitely be on the lookout for your pictures! You're so close now, you must be so unbelievably excited! :goodvibes

[*Pixiedust1438*]

That's great you booked your PS! Can't wait to hear all the details of where you will be staying/eating, etc.!!!

[SuzeQ]

Hi! I actually JUST booked my planning session for October 1st. Nick and I are both ridiculously excited. We originally didn't think we would have the money to go down to FL for a planning session, but now that we've booked one and are already counting down the days, it's becoming increasingly clear that we never would have made it all the way to the wedding without a Disney fix!! :rotfl:



What is your date? I'm really, really excited about using David & Vicki. They are both just so genuine and easy to talk to. I can't wait to meet them in October when I go for my engagement pictures!



Hi! Thanks for stopping by... I did speak to my coordinator and he confirmed that Disney recently communicated to the wedding department that Ariel's will be available at least through May of 2011. Apparently it keeps being scheduled for renovations but the start date keeps getting pushed back. Lucky for me because I was really disappointed when we pushed our date back as I assumed that meant giving up Ariel's. I will definitely be on the lookout for your pictures! You're so close now, you must be so unbelievably excited! :goodvibes

Hi!
How are you doing? I don't know how I missed your last few posts. I was wondering if they told how long Ariel's would be closed for renovations?

Suze

[Sapphire_Ag]

We are looking to book our wedding for May 7, 2011. How did you already book your planning session? We were told we couldn't book our date until a year out. Our coordinator told us it's on the books, but we can't officially book until May 7th of this year. How did you book yours already?

[Kimmers127]

We are looking to book our wedding for May 7, 2011. How did you already book your planning session? We were told we couldn't book our date until a year out. Our coordinator told us it's on the books, but we can't officially book until May 7th of this year. How did you book yours already?

Hi! I'm sorry, I just saw this. Honestly I have no idea, it didn't seem to be a problem when we set ours up. I hope you got this straightened out and ended up with a PS when you wanted! (Just to clarify - only my PS is arranged... I have not put a deposit down for the wedding yet - but I will have, by the time we go for our PS.)

[Kimmers127]

That's great you booked your PS! Can't wait to hear all the details of where you will be staying/eating, etc.!!!

Thanks! We are getting ready to start planning this trip, I'm getting excited!! My parents and my fiance's mom are coming with us. We thought inviting them to the PS would be a nice way to include our moms in the planning process and they are both pretty psyched to be coming.

Hi!
How are you doing? I don't know how I missed your last few posts. I was wondering if they told how long Ariel's would be closed for renovations?

Suze

Hi Suze! I'm sorry but I don't know... I don't know if THEY know either. My WC told me the date the renovation is supposed to start gets pushed back every so often. I know it's open to be booked for events at least through next May, but beyond that I have no idea, sorry!

[Kimmers127]

I thought I'd come on here and give everyone a few wedding updates! All of a sudden it feels like my wedding is starting to come together and I'm getting pretty excited. :cool1:

Wedding Date: 5/09/11. This date is meaningful to us because May 8th is the anniversary of when we met. We bumped to May 9th because we wanted the wedding to fall on a Monday. I have never been to Disney in May and I can't wait!

Ceremony Location: Sea Breeze Point. We are doing a 12 pm ceremony. I love that this part of our wedding will be outside in the Florida sunshine!

Reception Location: Ariels. When I found Ariel's it seemed perfect - at my favorite hotel, walking distance from the ceremony, vaguely under the sea themed elements. I wanted an indoor reception so that at least one of our wedding events could not possibly be rained out. I also wanted air conditioning! I love that it's so near to Stormalong Bay. And, it brings my guests many steps closer to...

Epcot Dessert Pary! This will most likely be held in Italy. DF and I both love this section of this World Showcase. I think it's beautiful and will make for lovely pictures. DF and I have been slowly compiling a list of items we would like on the menu. As it stands now our DP would probably cost more than our Ariel's buffet! :lmao: We need to make some major cuts... I've shoved that task off to the side for now.

Colors: two shades of blue, with accents of bright pink and a soft yellow, like the color of yellow roses.

Here is my MOH's dress, in the shades of blue we have chosen:

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e118/kimmersforlife/jensdress.jpg

I ordered her dress for her a few weeks ago when we went dress shopping together. The dress is beautiful and fun and very Jen. She loved it and she was so happy to have a short dress in a light material for Florida! I surprised her by buying the dress for her and she was thrilled.

Bridesmaids/Groomsmen: My best friend Jen is my MOH, and DF's best friend Chad is his BM. We elected not to have full bridal parties. It just seemed simpler and more cost efficient for everyone. :thumbsup2 Both of our friends have been asked and have accepted! :goodvibes

Dress: I started trying on dresses! But even though I brought my camera with me I never thought to take a single picture - sorry! Definitely a PJ FAIL. I came very close to buying the Maggie Soterro Riviera, but at the last second I just couldn't quite pull the trigger. The first time I tried it on it struck me as very fairy tale and perfect for a Disney wedding, but the second time I just wasn't sure. It's still a contender but I need to continue looking. I have an appointment at the Kleinfeld's sample sale this Sunday, so we'll see if I find something there. I would really like to have my dress before my planning session in October so I can show it to my hair & makeup stylist. My mom has very generously said she wants to buy me my dress, and I am so grateful to her for that. :lovestruc

Accessories: My mom recently gave me her mother's pearls, and if possible I would like to wear them on my wedding day. I don't have a picture of them but it's a single strand of pale rose colored Mikimoto pearls. My mom's best friend when she was younger was from Japan, and when she was 12 the two families went over there together for a month of sightseeing. The pearls were a gift from the family to my grandmother. They are beautiful, I just need to have them restrung as I am terrified of the string breaking!

Other wedding events: We are planning to do a Rehearsal Dinner either Saturday or Sunday night at 'Ohana's. If budget permits I would really like to invite ALL of our guests and make it more of a welcome party. This will depend on our final guest count. We are inviting about 90. Right now I could see anywhere between 30 and 80 RSVPing yes, so that's obviously quite a range! I am planning to send out pre-RSVP questionaires with our newsletters, so once those come back we should start being able to get a rough budget going. I am planning to surprise Nick with a Groom's cake at the Rehearsal Dinner. I've had bad luck ordering custom cakes from Disney in the past but this is something I really want to do, so I'm going to make my request as specific as possible and cross my fingers!

We would also like to do the World Showcase Segway Tour with our parents, siblings, MOH and BM on one of the mornings leading up to the wedding. Nick and I took that tour on our February trip and it was SO much fun. It is also where we officially decided that the Disney wedding was back on. :woohoo:

Lastly, I saw someone do a "Drinks Around the World" at the World Showcase and that looked like a lot of fun. We might do a "Drinks and Desserts Around the World" if it fits into the schedule. (We have a lot of non drinkers on our guest list so I thought that might be a nice way to include everyone.) Initially when we were planning to have full bridal parties, this was going to be a bridal party event. Now, I think I will just include it on our schedule of events and let everyone decide if they want to participate. (Sadly that means no matching teeshirts, which I would have made, had it stayed a smaller group.)

Photographer: The Arndts! I just love them, love their work and they are already so great to work WITH. I know they will get great shots for us and really help the day go smoothly.

Planning Session: booked! All set for 10/01/10. My parents and DF's mom are coming along and they are excited to be included. We've ended up making a week long trip out of it and I can't wait!

Next up: Kleinfeld's review, how in the heck do I get these newsletters written, and a special project my MOH is working on with me!

[Kimmers127]

I got my dress!!!

Just thought I would update this briefly. I went to Kleinfeld's a few months back to check out the sample sale. While I was there I fell in love with a Maggie Sottero (which of course was not part of the sale!) and I went ahead and ordered it. I am so, so in love with this dress so I just had to share!

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e118/kimmersforlife/thedressfull.jpg

:lovestruc

I love absolutely everything about this dress, from the sweetheart neckline to the fabric flower tucked into the skirt. I ordered the dress in ivory, which worked much better with my complexion than the bright white. It also works better with my pearl necklace, because the pearl accenting on the ivory dress is the same pale rose color.

I definitely had The Feeling as soon as I put this dress on. I immediately knew it was the one. I couldn't stop smiling and I didn't want to take it off! I'm really excited to have my dress ordered. Kleinfeld's was a great experience and probably the first time in this process that I TRULY felt like a bride. I also got to meet Randy and he was kind enough to take a picture with me, which is now a great little scrapbook reminder of the day!

I'm currently searching for hairstyles similar to the model's because I think it looks great with the dress. I haven't had any success so far, so I need to step up my efforts! I leave for my Planning Session trip on 9/30/10 and I want to have a hairstyle chosen by then because I have a hair and makeup trial during the trip. I also need to decide if I want to stick with my original plan and put a flower or two in my hair or go in a different direction and find some kind of a clip.

I'm also on the hunt for shoes! I'm 5'9" and Nick is 6', so generally when I wear heels we're about the same height. I've also kind of gotten into the habit of wearing flats a LOT in the last year, so I'm not as immune to The Pain of Heels as I used to be. Annnnd even on a good day I'm pretty clumsy. Our wedding day is going to be a long day with a lot of walking, and I'm wearing a pretty heavy dress. All in all, I think I'm going to look for some sort of flat... something elegant and maybe a little bit delicate looking, either in silver or a soft or slightly metallic pink shade. I've looked a bit online but so far nothing has really struck me.

All of a sudden it has really hit me that our wedding is approaching! It seems like the last several months went by in a heartbeat and now I'm almost down to 7 months! Nick and I are both very excited. We've started honing in on some of the details of the big day and the days surrounding it, and I'll be updating here much more frequently.

[*Pixiedust1438*]

LOVE the dress! Congrats on ordering it! It is beautiful.

[Firefly09]

Joining in! Just read your PJ and everything looks great!

We're planning on getting married on May 6, 2011, also at SBP! But, I think you're coming up on 8 months out from the wedding, not 7 as I've been counting down the days until we can book our Escape wedding at the 8 months mark. Had a slight panic attack thinking that I miscounted and could've booked our wedding date already!

Looking forward to the rest of your planning. And maybe a little stalking coming the big day!

[Kimmers127]

LOVE the dress! Congrats on ordering it! It is beautiful.

Thank you!! :goodvibes

Joining in! Just read your PJ and everything looks great!

We're planning on getting married on May 6, 2011, also at SBP! But, I think you're coming up on 8 months out from the wedding, not 7 as I've been counting down the days until we can book our Escape wedding at the 8 months mark. Had a slight panic attack thinking that I miscounted and could've booked our wedding date already!

Looking forward to the rest of your planning. And maybe a little stalking coming the big day!

Hi Firefly, thanks for joining in!

We're arriving for our wedding trip on May 6th... maybe I will catch a glimpse of you at some point!

Yikes, sorry to give you a mini heart attack! I think the way I phrased the date thing was sort of confusing! I was referring to my countdown ticker... because right now it says "8 months, 1 week and 2 days"... I just meant that soon it will be "7 months..." etc etc. It makes it seem really close!

Feel free to stalk away on the big day! :)

[Princess SarahK]

Where'd you go? Id loveto read more about the final plans!! Youre getting REALLY REALLY close now!!:goodvibes